Center Stage
by PinkFan-Gurl
Summary: Yato is determined to get his name on The Wall before he graduates, but the talented duo of Kazuma and Bishamone make it nearly impossible. Fortunately he tag teams with Hiyori, a script writer for one of the upcoming productions. Along with his ragtag team of friends, Yato feels he has a winning shot at being on The Wall. (High school au)
1. Unwanted Adoption

**Unwanted Adoption**

Hiyori was glad that she picked the farthest spot in the cafeteria for the two of them to sit.

Sure, Yato might have been cute but his table manners were terrible and she might have literally died of embarrassment if her classmates caught her hanging out with the biggest loser in the entire theatre department. His little break-up with Mayu had also hit the halls of the school which didn't help boost his popularity much either.

Just a little bit longer, she kept telling herself. It was the only thing she could do to keep herself sane. Just a little bit longer and Yato would finally hold up his end of their bargain and she'd have a secured spot in the college of her dreams.

Still, she couldn't help asking him again. "So, Yato...when are you going to mention me to your dad?"

Yato paused mid-spoonful to his mouth, looking quite offended. He set the utensil down and wiped his mouth with the back of his sleeve. "I told you, I can't ask him until I know I have a better shot at being casted in the new production." His eyes flicked to her, and Hiyori instantly knew he was about to ask the question that she was tired of hearing. "We could speed up the process if someone were to get me a copy of the script."

Hiyori leveled her eyes at him. "You know I can't do that. The stage crew want my head on a stake as it is now that they know that I'm friends with an actor."

Yato shrugged and returned to his food. "Then I don't know what to tell you. Maybe you should just try to get into college the way everyone else-"

"Shut up." Hiyori balled up her napkin and tossed it onto the table top. "Fine," she sighed, lifting up her gaze to meet Yato's stupid grin. "If we hurry now, we should be able to get a copy from the theatre room before they get back from lunch."

As she reached down to grab her bag, she saw Yato fist bumping the air in triumph. She clucked her tongue with a slight eyeroll. "Don't get used to it, okay?"

Yato pushed his chair back and stood up, his pompous grin still on his face. "On the contrary. Actors are meant to get special treatment."

Hiyori could practically see the stars in his eyes. "Let me remind you that you're a struggling high school actor that hasn't even been casted in a role that has more than three lines," she deadpanned. The stars in his eyes dimmed. He made a move to protect his pride, but she cut him off. "Don't argue with me; I went back and looked at all of the scripts you've done in the last few years and you've only spoken twelve lines all together and one of them was improved because you messed up the first one!"

Yato crossed his arms, pouting like a child. "Are we going to get the script or what?"

Hiyori shouldered her bag, a smug grin replacing her irritated scowl from before. "Yes. Let's."

No one was in the hallways since it was still lunch time and most of the other classes were still in session. It kind of made Hiyori uncomfortable, especially with Yato moonwalking next to her while humming theme music that he claimed to have written himself. It was clearly from Get Smart, so she didn't know who he thought he was fooling but she chose not to comment.

She was just afraid that they were going to get caught. If not by administration for walking the halls aimlessly then it would be for pinching a copy of the script, both of which would most likely be caused by Yato for being too loud.

"Okay, wait out here," Hiyori said, stopping outside of the theatre room. "No one should be in there, but just in case."

Yato cocked his head to the side, sort of looking like a kicked puppy. She felt bad for a second, but it quickly faded. "You don't want to be seen with me?"

"You know how strict the Unspoken Rules are," she reminded him. "I'll be right back."

Hiyori inhaled deeply, then pushed the door open and slipped inside. She tried to cushion the echo of it closing as best she could, but it didn't seem to do much. She winced, standing completely still until she was certain no one was around.

She scanned the room; there really wasn't much in it really. The wall on the far side had a bunch of signatures of previous students who had graduated with a mirror on the side which made the room look bigger than it actually was. The desks were all pushed out to the perimeter of the room, creating a huge open space in the middle.

Standing in place, Hiyori considered checking the props closet for the scripts even though she was perfectly aware they were sitting in a neat pile in the top left drawer of Mr. Kuguha's desk. Yes, they were exactly where he showed them to her three days ago…

Panic clawed at her stomach and Hiyori was afraid that she was about to vomit on the floor. She really didn't want to just take the script, but Yato had made his point clear about him not being able to do anything until he got a peek at it. Not to mention that she knew that Viina had already seen at least two scenes of the script and had commit it to memory.

She picked at the frayed cuff of her jacket sleeve. She could do this.

Finally regaining her lost breath, Hiyori crossed the space and settled behind the desk, taking care to keep her head down in case someone came in. The scripts were exactly where she last saw them. Quickly closing the drawer, Hiyori breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe she would get away clean after all!

She was in the dead middle of the room when a door behind her clicked open and her heart dropped. She forgot about the auditorium entrance! "Hey!" a gruff voice scolded from behind.

Hiyori turned around slowly, maneuvering her hands so that the script was hidden behind her back and then put on her best smile. This was going to be a disaster. "Oh, h-hi!"

The girl who had walked in was rather big, with a frog like face. Her hair was dyed blue and yellow, which was quite gaudy. Hiyori instantly recognized her as one of the stage crew who hated her. Hiyori's confidence in her clean get away suddenly spiraled.

The girl strode up to Hiyori and stared at her. Hiyori felt like she was looking into the sky, the girl was so tall. "What are you doing in here?" her frog lips spat. "You don't have this hour and no one is due back for another ten minutes."

Hiyori was afraid that her sweaty hands were going to destroy the paper. "I could say the same for you."

The girl rolled her neck on her shoulders smugly. "Had to run an errand for Mr. Kuguha. Guess he forgot to give a pen back to Mr. Ebisu or something and he asked me to get it."

Hiyori nodded, trying to figure out a fib. "I had to-" she noticed the girl's eyes falling to her hands behind her back and she instantly knew what to say. "I had to grab a script because Mr. Kuguha asked me to make a small change in a scene." She pulled out the slab of paper from behind her back and put it on display.

The girl sneered down at her skeptically. "Why would he do that? The script is perfect. Besides, I haven't seen you stop by all day."

"He asked me yesterday," Hiyori replied coolly, keeping her composure despite how hot her skin felt. "He likes the script but he wanted me to try rewriting a small portion of scene six because I gave him an idea the other day that he wanted to try out."

That part wasn't a lie, thank God.

The girl still didn't look overly convinced. Hiyori scowled at her. "I don't get why you're being so mean to me! I'm older than you too! Show me some respect!" Hiyori snapped.

"You lost all of my respect when you became a traitor to the Phantoms and started talking to those, those, those...stuck up actors! You're one of them now!"

"Like it or not, I'm still part of the backstage work," Hiyori said, "and not an actor. Which means that I have a job to do and editing this script is one of them."

"You're half and half then. We're never going to take you back."

Hiyori fought off the urge to tell this underclassmen off, but it wasn't like her to do something so impulsive. Besides, the girl seemed like she was going to let her leave without any more hassles so there was no point of starting an argument that might get her busted. She was about to leave when the door flung open and Yato leaned in and hissed, "Yo, Hiyori? You got the script yet?"

Hiyori's breathing stopped and she was pretty sure she felt her legs nearly cave beneath her. Yato's jaw dropped when he noticed the phantom girl but his quick protests were drowned out by the girl's shrilled, "I KNEW YOU WERE A LYING BITCH."

"Bitch?" Hiyori whirled around, because those be fightin words, but Yato let out a small squeak and dove for her hand.

Hiyori stuffed the script into her bag as they charged down the hallway, the heavy footsteps and curse words of the girl chasing after them. "What the heck, Yato!" she yelled, "I wanted to-"

"What?" Yato let out a small laugh. "Fight her? Do you know what she would do to you? Do you even know how to fight?"

Hiyori stayed silent, because he was right. She had been to caught up in the moment. She would have really regretted it if she had thrown a punch. She would have probably stood there in shock at her terrible behavior and would have gotten her own lights pounded out. Maybe she owed Yato for this one.

Yato's hand slipped from around her wrist to her hand as they rounded a corner. This was where things were going to get difficult. The theatre room was on the relatively deserted side of the school, and now they were going to be running through highly inhabited hallways. Where were they going to hide?

"Yato?" Hiyori glanced over her shoulder at the girl who was pouring on the speed. Not only that, but Hiyori's stamina was pretty low and she felt a stitch forming in her side. "Where are we—"

"We'll run to boy's dorm," he said breathlessly. She was surprised at how much endurance he had. "School's over in two hours anyway. We can afford one absence in class."

"Yeah, but—"

Smack!

Hiyori stumbled back, massaging her head with her free hand. Yato had just run them straight into a blonde kid. "Oh I'm so sorry," she apologized quickly.

The boy shifted his annoyed frown from Yato to Hiyori, but it quickly melted into a shy smile. "I-it was just an accident. Don't worry about it."

"There they are!" The girl who was chasing them now had a buddy with her that Hiyori also recognized from the stage crew.

"Oh shit!" Yato tightened his grip on her hand and grabbed the wrist of the kid who they had just plowed into. "Time to go peasants!"

"Peasants?" the boy exclaimed as they were towed down the hallway.

Hiyori almost felt like laughing, the situation was so ridiculous. Were they really about to attempt ditching school and dragging along some poor freshman all while being chased by two crazy girls? Yep, definitely laughable.

"Where are we going?" the boy panted.

"Boys dorms!" Yato said back a little loud.

"Why?"

"Because this genius," Hiyori indicated to Yato, "got us caught!"

The bell rang, and the hallways started to fill up with people which was a bit of a relief. Despite having to slow their pace, Yato managed to guide them to the staircase where they hid for a few minutes in silence until they knew they had lost their pursuers. Then Yato pulled them up the stairs and across the building until they were standing on the third floor of the boy's dorm room.

"What the hell just happened?" The blonde freshman was doubled over with his hands on his knees, his breaths heavy.

Yato leaned against the wall. Despite the endurance Hiyori had admired in him before, he was panting hard now as well. "Phantoms."

The blonde's eyes went wide. "What?"

Hiyori tapped his shoulder and shook her head since she couldn't form a sentence yet. The last thing this kid needed was to think that ghosts haunted the school. Once she caught her breath, Hiyori related the entire story of how they got caught.

"Phantoms are just a fancy term we use for people who work behind the scenes in our productions," she explained between huffs. "They hate the actors and refuse to associate with them. I was technically one of them since I do behind the scenes type stuff, but they all hate me now because I've been hanging out with Yato."

The blonde, who had introduced himself as Yukine, looked unamused. "You mean they're going to hate me now too just by association with you?"

The question should have been aimed at both of them, but Hiyori was getting the feeling that Yukine blamed Yato for this problem more than her. Which seemed fair since Yato was the one who ran into him.

Yato nodded. "More or less. It's better if you were to stick with us for the time being."

"Us?" Yukine repeated. His eyes flicked to Hiyori, and his cheeks flushed. "I was under the impression that you two weren't friends."

"Well…" Hiyori wasn't sure how to answer, but all of a sudden Yato's arm was draped around her shoulder in a hug.

"You kidding me?" he bragged. "This girl can't get enough of me! She insists that we eat lunch together everyday and—"

Hiyori shoved him off of her. "—and it's not like I have much of a choice since we made a deal." She turned to Yukine and smiled. "But it would be nice if you were to join us from time to time if you didn't want to be with us all of the time."

Yukine looked at the ground, and for a moment she wondered if she had said something to offend him, but then he whispered, "I guess that would be alright."

Hiyori smiled. "I'm glad."

"Say, uh, Yukine." Yato was leaning up against the door at the end of the hall. Yukine turned towards him a smidge. "I'm not really good with keeping the underclassmen straight, but I'm pretty sure I haven't seen you around the boys' dorm until today."

Yukine shrugged. "It's my first day, okay?"

"But it's already the middle of October!" Hiyori pointed out.

"Family stuff," he answered. Hiyori decided not to push the issue further and for once Yato's thought aligned with hers.

"Do you have a roommate yet?" Yato asked. Yukine shook his head. Yato grinned and shoved open the door he had been standing against. "Good! Then you can room with me!"

Yukine looked so annoyed that Hiyori had to hold back a laugh. "What? I thought that that was a closet!"

This time Hiyori did laughed. Yato pouted in the childlike manner she had become accustomed. "It may not be the biggest dorm room, but they are letting me stay in it for way cheaper. Plus we have our own private bathroom which is way better than the community ones!"

Yukine peeked his head in the door and his frown became even more defined. "That's not a bathroom! That's just a toilet in a corner with a shower curtain in front of it!"

"Beggars can't be choosers, Yukine." Yato clapped his hands as if he was getting dust off of them.

Yukine sighed, leaning back against the wall on the opposite side of the doorway. "At least you have a microwave."

"Oh that doesn't work," Yato said cheerfully. "I just kept it to put stuff on top of it. I also hide my scripts in there.. Oh! Speaking of scripts, Hiyori~"

"There's no way I'm rooming with you, you hobo!" Yukine exclaimed.

Hiyori silently wondered if this was how her life was going to be from here on out.

…

 **edit:** i've fixed the grammar errors and hopefully clarified what the phantoms are!

 _okay! welcome everyone! first off, let me explain the situation: a few months back I came up with this great Noragami au about them being in high school where Yato is a theatre kid and wants his name to be on "The Wall" and blah blah blah. And i really wanted to write this story too- i had half of it planned out in detail with subplots and shit. it was was gonna be great. unfortunately, i don't really have the time or motivation to write a full fledged story from start to finish the way I would like too but at the same time I don't want to scrap the idea because I'm still really in love with it._

 _that being said, I've decided to take my ideas and turn them into a group of one-shots all taking place in this universe i've created. some will be longer/shorter than others and they won't always be in chronological order, but i'll try to make it as clear as possible in regards to the setting. hopefully you guys will like it, so please stick around!\_

 _I've also put together some background info for you since I'm not going to write an official exposition._

 _-Yato, Mayu, Kazuma, Viina (Bishamon), and Daikoku are all seniors. Hiyori, Kofuku, Ami, and Yama are all juniors. Nora (Hiiro) is a sophomore and Yukine is a freshman._

 _-Yato is a theatre buff who's dream is to be put on "The Wall" which is basically a status symbol:_

Yato stopped short of the entrance to the auditorium and glanced at The Wall.

The Wall had been Yato's primary goal since the very first day he had set foot in the school. The Wall was a massive length of wall that recorded the theatre biography of the best performers to have ever passed through the school's Performing Arts department. For the last fifty years, the best of the best actors and actresses were given a coveted spot on the wall with their picture for all the next generation to see.

Being on The Wall was the valedictorian equivalent to the theatre kids; being chosen for such an honor would instantly elevate social status as much as a perfect SAT score would. Traditionally, the spots were only given out to seniors and excelled juniors.

As a senior, Yato knew that this would be his last chance to get on The Wall.

"My picture is going to be on this wall," he vowed, touching a spot on the wall. His name was carved in small writing from when he first joined the Performing Arts department back as a freshman. "I know it will."

-excerpt from original chapter one

 _-Yato wants to be a lead role in one of the school plays but Kazuma and Bishamone always manage to outshine him_

 _\- Hiyori is a high authority in the theatre department and Yato is a struggling actor who has connections to a college she is interested in. they make a deal to help each other out: Yato puts in a good word for Hiyori and Hiyori helps Yato get his name on The Wall_

 _-the phantoms in this story are represented as the stage crew/people who do things behind the scenes of theatre prouductions (i have nothing against stage crew. you guys are great, please don't hurt me.)_

 _-the inspiration for the actors and stage crew rivalry stems from a Fairy Tail fic called "Light Me Up" by Lonestorm (you should check it out, it's cute!)_

 _yeah. I think that's all the helpful tidbits I have for right now. hopefully you guys enjoy this series as much as i have fun writing it! new chapters soon and i promise there won't be anymore long author notes at the bottom!_

 _8/9/17_


	2. The Ropes

**The Ropes**

"I don't understand why we're staring at it like this," Yukine groaned, covering a yawn with the crook of his arm.

Hiyori pulled the strap of her bag further up here shoulder. "You get used to it," she deadpanned.

"Guys," Yato whined, shooting them both looks, "I've already asked you to be quiet. I'm almost done so just _shh_."

Yukine groaned and took a sip of the soup in his foam cup leftover from the ramen he had for breakfast. He hadn't expected his life at the boarding school to be overly glamorous but last night was terrible.

Yato's room was originally a custodial closet that had been remodeled as a bedroom. There was only enough room for one bed, which was really just a box-spring and a mattress, pushed up against the corner furthest from the lone toilet. A small desk was shoved near the door, making it hard to get in or out of the room and the microwave took up space in the middle of the room.

Yukine ended up having to sleep on stacked sleeping bags he borrowed from Hiyori to cushion himself against the tile floor. Not only that, but there wasn't any heat in the room so he nearly froze to death thanks to the draft coming from under the door.

Now here he stood, tired and hungry, staring at a stupid wall honoring a bunch of people he could care less about. Was it too late to change his roommate to someone else? Because he wasn't sure if he would be able to make it through a semester living with Yato, let alone a whole school year.

A whole school year…. Where was he going to go once summer finally came and school was over?

Off to the side, Hiyori coughed into her hand. Yukine was grateful for the distraction; the last thing he needed was to think about home. "Sorry, guys," Hiyori said. "But I have to get to class early so I can help a friend with her homework."

Yato turned on his heel, jaw dropped and looking personally offended. "But Hiyori! You can't just leave!"

Hiyori leveled her eyes with Yato and gave a short laugh. "Sorry. But I have to go."

Yukine watched as Hiyori scurried away. "Hey, Yato," he turned to Yato who was grumbling to himself, "I'm going to go to class to. Because I don't want to hold you up."

He added the fib at the end in hopes that he could just slip away, but Yato slung his bag over his shoulder with one hand and then draped the other one over Yukine's shoulders. "Don't worry, buddy," Yato said, cheerfully, "I can wrap it up. I'll take you on a tour of the school!"

Yukine blew out a breath. School didn't start for another half hour and clearly there was no way of shaking this guy, but the whole staring at the wall for ten minutes in silence thing had already put him in a bad mood. He didn't think that Yato giving him a tour of the school was such a wise idea if there was any hope of Yukine trying to salvage any positive feelings for the older boy.

"No really," Yukine tried pushing Yato away from him, but Yato nearly tightened his grip around Yukine's shoulder, "I don't need a tour."

"You should change that attitude, Yukine." Yato puffed up his chest pridefully. Yukine thought he looked kind of like a penguin when he did that. "I'm basically a god at this school; people would kill to be in the position that you're in now."

"Sleeping on the dirty of your utility closet and having your sweaty hands leave a wet mark on my shoulder?" Yukine responded flatly. Yato jumped back at that last comment, wiped his hands on his pants looking quite embarrassed. Yukine made a mental note.

"It's a health condition," Yato sniffed back. This time he kept his hands in his trackpant pockets. "And I'm pretty popular, Yukine. These people are my people, these hallways are my castle. Sometimes it's hard being me."

Yukine sighed deeply and dropped his empty cup into a nearby garbage bin. "Please don't tell me you live in this delusional fantasy world of yours all of the time."

"What's that?" Yato cupped his hand around his ear and leaned close to Yukine. "I can't hear your negativity over my fans screaming my name."

"No one is screaming your name."

Yato ignored his comment, putting on a bright smile and approached a random blonde guy at his locker. "Yo, Finnian," Yato held out his hand for what was probably meant for a fist-bump, "what's up, pal?"

The blonde stared at his hand with a confused smile. "Uh, can I help you dude?"

Yato shook it off with a laugh and kept walking as if he didn't just get flat out rejected. "Ah, Finny, such a kidder. I'll you later bro!" He shot him a pair of finger guns and then did a twist so that he was in step with Yukine again.

"That was just pitiful," Yukine said.

Yato grinned. "You're just jealous because he was speechless in my presence."

Yukine resisted the urge to punch him in the stomach. "I'm not sure that's the phrase I would go with."

Yukine hadn't realized Yato had stopped walking until his sweaty hands were clenched around Yukine's mouth and he was being dragged backward. Yukine kicked and fought, but Yato just shushed him until they were backed away into an empty classroom.

This time when Yukine ripped Yato's hands away, they came off. "What the hell, man?"

Yato didn't have his usual dumb smile that Yukine had quickly grown used to, which was a little unnerving. "Phantoms. At least five, and they're probably not happy about yesterday still."

"Can't you just apologize?"

"It doesn't work like that. There's been an unspoken feud between the actors and the stage crew since before my time here and there doesn't seem to be a change in that any time soon."

This school just seemed to be getting better and better. Yukine just couldn't catch a break could he? "So we're just going to duck and hide every time we see one?"

This time Yato laughed. "Oh of course not. Usually they just leave me be, but today they're going to be especially bothersome. It's probably better to just fly under the radar for today. It will be back to normal by toma—"

"Didn't expect to find you here." Yukine turned toward the owner of the new voice and found himself staring up at a beautiful, busty blonde. She didn't look happy, though, which made Yukine want to fold up like a lawn chair.

Yato groaned in exasperation. "What the hell do you want, Bishamon?"

The blonde, Bishamon, moved her eyes from Yato to Yukine and then back to Yato again. "Didn't know you had a thing for seducing freshmen."

Yukine felt his face heat up in embarrassment. Is that what she thought they were doing in here? Getting handsy? He wanted to throw up at the thought.

Yato didn't seem to bat an eyelash at the comment though. "Says the slut who wears a bra as a shirt when you go out into the city."

Yukine inhaled sharply and kept his face parallel with the floor. He could feel the tension radiating between the two, and the fact that Bishamon was at least three inches taller than Yato made her even more frightening. If they fought, Yukine was pretty positive Yato would die after the first punch she threw.

"Class starts in five," she said coldly. Yukine didn't dare look up. "Make sure the freshman isn't late."

The door closed and Yukine released the breath he had been holding. "Who the heck was that?"

"Viina Bishamon," Yato spat. His blue eyes looked dangerous, like they could spit lightning at any moment. All of the care free glow that had clouded his aura seemed to have vanished. "Along with her right hand man, Kazuma, she is my biggest rival in the theatre department."

Yukine waited for him to elaborate as to why they were at such odd ends with one another, but Yato simply pushed the door open and murmured, "Let's get to class."

"You mean you're not going to expla—"

"—you don't need to know right now." Yato responded harshly.

Yukine faltered for a minute before wrinkling his nose and stomping past Yato. "Whatever, ya weirdo! I'm going to class! And I'm going to get myself a new roommate at the end of the day!"

He couldn't stand twenty-four hours with Yato, let alone a whole semester. A whole school year was a complete joke. And throughout all of the morning's tragic events, Yukine was still hungry.

...

8/12/17


End file.
